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Category: Problem-Solving

Fibonacci Flower Garden Collaborative Project

Fibonacci Flower Garden Collaborative Project

I’m always looking for ways to combine math and art into a fun activity. I’m also always looking for ways to show students that we’re surrounded by math in ways we aren’t necessarily aware of. That brings me to a recent Family Math Night Collaborative Project. In this project I used the Fibonacci numbers to have participants create a Fibonacci Flower Garden. Fibonacci numbers are a sequence of numbers that are generated by adding the previous two numbers starting with 0 and…

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What Do You Notice? Pie Graph

What Do You Notice? Pie Graph

There’s been a big push to get students looking at and analyzing data. So I’m excited to share with you one of my latest What Do You Notice? posters…a poster that gives students (and their families) an opportunity to think about and share their thoughts about the math they see. For this poster, I created a simple pie graph as a fun way to show students how information can be visually organized. That said, as you’ll see in the description below, there’s a lot…

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What Do You Notice? Number Wheel

What Do You Notice? Number Wheel


Skills:
K-2: number recognition, counting, geometry
3-5: addition/subtraction, patterns, odd numbers


This is a fun puzzle where the main objective is to figure out where the three missing numbers of the “spokes” are placed. Since the numbers 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are visible, the missing numbers would be 3, 4, and 10 (assuming we are using the consecutive numbers 1 – 10. There is an alternate solution for the missing numbers 0, 3, and 4 which is described below).

Younger students may notice a circle, a square, and (10) “triangular” pie pieces. They will probably notice that some of the spokes are missing numbers. Starting at 1 and counting on, they may discover the three missing numbers: 3, 4, and 10. It would be interesting to ask them where they think the numbers go on the wheel and why they chose those specific spokes.

Older students will quickly notice three missing numbers. With a little bit of guidance, they should be able to notice some patterns that can help them determine where the missing numbers should be placed.

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Time Capsule – A Family Math Night Activity

Time Capsule – A Family Math Night Activity

We are living through a historic moment in history that has brought about some major changes to our lives. As an elementary math educator, I wanted to figure out a way for students to capture this moment through a math activity. That’s when I came up with the idea of creating a time capsule.

I presented the activity a few weeks ago as a webinar for a homeschooling consortium but when we lost the video of the presentation, I decided to film it again and am including it for you below.

It’s a simple but fun project that the whole family can do. With a little adaptation, it would work in the virtual classroom, as well.

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